Leave this Book Alone
by Captain Ash
Summary: "The book is bound in human flesh and inked in human blood. It deals with those forces which roam the forest and dark bowers of Man's domain. The first few pages warn that these enduring creatures may lie dormant but are never truly dead. They may be recalled to active life through the incantations presented in this book. Leave this book alone." This warning left unheeded.


Leave this Book Alone

Bleach and all related characters belong to Tite Kubo

* * *

Ichigo Kurosaki was having a problem and that problem was something he was not familiar with: insanity. He'd never been crazy before. Well at least, he didn't think he had and yet he was fairly certain that he was going insane now. The room was laughing at him. Ichigo had never liked being laughed at.

The room didn't care. It was a child's room, filled with stuffed animals that were belting out the worst bleating, long-winded laughs that he'd ever heard. Ichigo was backed into a corner, hands pressed over his ears. His shotgun was on the floor in front of him. He grabbed it and pulled it closer, then went back to shutting out the laughter of the room. The lamp and ceiling fan had started as well, and he wished they would stop.

An awful pressure was building in his chest. Ichigo tried to swallow, but his mouth was dry. The pressure built until he felt like he would explode, until it was actually causing him pain. He opened his mouth and laughed, eyes wide and pupils constricted, pitting his own laughter against the demonic noise surrounding him. He got shakily up from the floor, bumbling around and forgetting all about his shotgun. He weaved drunkenly around the room, laughing in the faces of everything he could. He stood in the center of the floor and danced a crude jig, giggling like a maniac. The lamp dipped along with him, looking very happy at having a dance partner. Ichigo laughed until his throat hurt and his voice was hoarse. He suddenly noticed that the entire house had gone quiet.

"Huh? Go on, laugh!" Ichigo bellowed. The room remained silent, mocking him by ignoring him. Ichigo gritted his teeth and grabbed his shotgun.

"I said laugh!" He screamed, and blasted one of the stuffed animals to smithereens. He laughed again, crawling to the ruined toy and holding his face inches from it.

"Ha ha ha! Take that you fluffy bastard!"

The floor behind him creaked and Ichigo spun around, but nothing was there.

"W-Who's there? What's there? Answer me!" He asked the madness forgotten momentarily. Silence. Ichigo had never heard silence so complete.

Ichigo had come here for a nice vacation with his girlfriend Tatsuki and their friend, Uryu, and Ichigo's sister Karin on what was basically a camping trip minus the actual camping. She had said it would cheer him up after losing his Shinigami powers. For a while she was right as he had been enjoying himself until the sun set. Then all hell had broken loose. Tatsuki, Uryu, and Karin had been possessed by something. He didn't know what, but he knew one thing. It was pure evil. He was forced to kill them. With no way to fight off such great numbers alone, Ichigo grabbed the shotgun above the fireplace, loaded it, and blasted the four of them until they'd stopped twitching. He didn't have a choice.

Ichigo leaned against the wall and tried to catch his breath, then started to feel punishingly thirsty. His throat was dry and painful from his mad laughter and he slouched into the kitchen for some water.

The sink didn't work. He remembered Dr. Ishida saying that some of the "utilities" were in need of repair. Growling he began banging and hitting the sink with his fist, taking his anger out on the inanimate object before he colapsed on the floor, hands over his face forcing back tears. Ichigo then thought back to how this nightmare began.

* * *

_Uryu Ishida had talked his father into allowing him and his friends to allow them to travel to the cabin his father owned up in the country. When they arrived they had found that an old college friend of Uryu's father, a Prof. Raymond Knowby, had been their previously as there were research papers scattered all around. Uryu had become quite curious upon looking over the notes. That is when he found _it_. That book. Uryu had spent all day going over the notes, which apparently were Knowby's attempts at deciphering the ancient text of the dark tome. Then roughly one minute before sundown, Uryu had managed to decode one three words. However he was foolish enough to say them aloud._

_"Klaatu. Barada. Nikto." _

_And as soon as the sun went down, all hell broke loose. A giant wind blew through the cabin and Karin started screaming extremely loud, almost making everyone's ears bleed. Her skin turned sickly pale and her eyes greenish yellow. The next and what would be final words she said were forever burned into Ichigo's mind._

**_"You're all going to die tonight."_**

* * *

The floor behind him creaked again, shaking Ichigo out of his flash back. He turned around and was struck by a rotting fist. He wasn't sure what a fist was doing there, or why it had decided to attack him, but by the time he'd crashed through the kitchen table he was ready to do something about it.

"U-Uryu?!" He stammered, backing up until he bumped into the wall.

Uryu was a good friend and had come along to help cheer him up. Less than an hour ago Ichigo had buried what remained of him in the cellar.

"Hey there, buddy!" The undead Uryu said, smiling wickedly. Ichigo screamed and fired his shotgun, emptying both barrels into the Quiny's head who fell to the floor in even worse shape than he'd been before. The silence that followed was, again, utterly suffocating.

"That'll teach ya." Ichigo breathed, reloading quickly. A bucket by the fireplace caught his attention. Tatsuki had wanted to make a fire later that night, but Chad had insisted they have water ready in case it got out of control. Ichigo rushed over to it and dunked his head in, guzzling water so quickly that he half drowned himself. He used what remained to slick back his shaggy orange hair and get it out of his eyes.

After several more minutes of quiet Ichigo decided that he didn't want to wait around for something awful to happen, again. He had to go looking for another weapon. The shotgun was doing a great job, but he had only a few shells remaining. He didn't want to be caught defenseless later.

Ichigo remembered seeing plenty of sharp objects in the basement, so he decided to start there. The steps creaked as he descended, each step advertising his location to anything that happened to be listening. It didn't bother him that much. So far there wasn't a single creature that had been unable to find him, and he doubted being quiet would make a significant difference.

There was a workbench set against the wall with something bulky lying on it. Ichigo walked over and squealed with glee. It was a chainsaw, oiled up and ready for action! He picked up the chainsaw as he wandered about to look for anything else of use. In a corner he found what looked like a collection of leather belts. They might have been some sort of harness, but the individual pieces had fallen apart and were impossible to identify.

There was also a collection of tools in one corner. Ichigo wasn't sure what to take with him, so he just took the chainsaw and left before anything could jump out of the dark at him. As he was walking up the stairs a decaying hand reached out from beneath the staircase and tried to trip him, but he ran out and locked the door before whatever it was could follow.

"Now I'm ready for ya." He said quietly. Ichigo sat down next to the fireplace and examined the chainsaw. He was happy to find that, not only was the gas tank full, but the chain looked almost brand new. He set it aside, well within reach.

For a while he wasn't sure what to do next, so he just leaned against the wall and tried to relax. Ichigo nearly drifted off to sleep, but he forced himself to sit up and stay awake.

"Don't worry, everything's gonna be fine. Just relax." He whispered, trying to reassure himself.

"Fine? Don't be an idiot!" A voice chastised. Ichigo leapt to his feet, pointing his shotgun around the room.

"Who said that?! Get out here and take your lead like a man!" Ichigo yelled as he frantically searched for the voice. The voice laughed at him and, for a second, Ichigo nearly recognized it as his own. He scanned the room and saw a rocking chair slowly lean back as though someone was sitting in it.

"What do you want?! Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Ichigo screamed in fear and rage.

**"Because we are hungry."** The voice didn't come from the rocking chair, which had started to move back and forth at a relaxed pace.

**"We've been alone for so long. Your friend the Quincy was fun for a while, but we want new blood! And by process of elimination you're next."**

Ichigo still had his shotgun aimed at the chair, but he didn't think it represented any real threat. In fact it was probably meant to distract him from the real danger, whatever that was.

"What are you? Some kinda Hollow or something?!" Ichigo asked through gritted teeth. The laughter that sounded wasn't the insane, maniacal laughter that he had taken part in earlier. It was calm, cold, and utterly devoid of mirth.

**"We are the things that were and will be again. You will be dead by dawn! Dead by dawn! Dead by dawn**!"

Ichigo dropped to the ground and covered his ears, screaming to drown out the awful noise. The laughter returned with a vengeance and he emptied his lungs over and over.

Again the silence returned and he failed to notice. Eventually Ichigo sat up and looked around, shotgun held close by just in case this was a trick.

"Take it easy. Just…just relax. You're dreaming or hallucinating or something. You'll be fine."

"Fine? No you're not! Stop saying that!" The voice said again. Ichigo howled in a blind rage and blew the rocking chair to bits, though it had long-since stopped moving. He whirled around and tried to find who was speaking, but there was no one that he could see.

He caught his reflection in a mirror and nearly shot it. Ichigo sighed and walked over to look at himself. He was a mess, covered in blood that was from numerous sources both alive and dead. His hair, though slicked back and out of the way, was a tangled mess. His eyes were wild and frightened.

"You need to calm down. Panic doesn't help." Ichigo ordered himself trying to return to his former mentality. The kind of person that took on swarms of Hollows like they were nothing and fought with both Arrancar and would-be gods.

"Good. Just try to remain calm. You're alright now."

The Ichigo in the mirror leapt out at him and wrapped its hands around his neck.

"I told you not to say that! We just killed our girlfriend, our best friend, and our sister!" His reflection yelled. Suddenly its skin turned bright white as did its hair, eyes turning yellow and black.

**"Does that seem alright to you?" **It asked, a sinister smile etched on its face.

Ichigo screamed and tried to pull away, but the specter in the mirror had him in a death grip

"Murderer!" It shrieked, now the multitude of voices again.

"Killer! Butcher! Monster!" It howled with laughter as its teeth grew into fangs, then grabbed Ichigo's right hand and bit so hard that he could hear bone crunch. He blasted the mirror with his shotgun in a desperate attempt to get away and the monster shattered along with the glass.

Ichigo crawled away, leaving a thin trail of blood on the hardwood floor. Tears streamed down his face from the pain. He remembered the leather straps in the basement and thought about making himself a tourniquet.

The pain in his hand suddenly disappeared, replaced by a tingling numbness. Ichigo saw fractures slowly creeping across his hand. He cried out and held the extremity close, trying to pinch off whatever it was that was invading his arm. His hand began convulsing, putting his entire arm through spasms that he couldn't control.

Just when he thought things couldn't get worse Ichigo became aware that something was wrong. His hand wasn't just twitching randomly. Out of nowhere it rocketed up into his jaw, sending him sprawling back onto the floor. His own hand drove itself into his belly, then chopped him across the neck. Ichigo forced it to the ground and sat on it, watching as it squirmed around trying to get free.

"You bastards! Give it back! Give me back my hand, you dirty sons of... oh hell." Ichigo yelled as his hand finally managed to get free and tugged him toward the kitchen. Ichigo was pulled along with far more force than his hand alone should have been able to manage. He grabbed hold of the doorframe and watched in horror as the aging wood fell apart under the sudden pressure.

The possessed hand moved behind Ichigo's head and rammed it onto the countertop.

"Traitor!" Ichigo shouted as his face smashed into the stove. He tried to get up, but his hand held him firmly in place. It slid him painfully over into the stove again, then began fumbling with the controls. He managed to wrench himself away, but got hit in the stomach again for his trouble, but eventually he managed to kneel on his own leg and stop the infernal thing from jerking him around anymore.

Ichigo noticed that his chainsaw was still sitting next to the fireplace.

"Oh, now you're in for it!" He yelled as he managed to work his way over to the fireplace, fighting the traitorous appendage all the way.

"That's right, you bastard!" He shouted as he yanked the starter rope.

"WHO'S LAUGHING NOW!"

* * *

A bloodied Ichigo tumbled down the basement stairs, his mind numbed with pain. He felt down at the cauterized stump where his hand had been, duct-taped all over to stop any bleeding, wincing at the sudden jolt of pain that coursed from it. He immediately found the pile of leather straps and, after selecting the shortest one, bound the bloodied stump at the end of his arm. He held both the chansaw and shotgun in his arms, carrying them as best he could without a right hand

"Now I'm angry!" Ichigo laughed out, his previously questionable sanity now long gone. It was surprisingly easy to create the harness, but Ichigo still needed to bind his stump in something. He ripped off most of his undershirt and wrapped it around what remained of his arm, using the leather strap to hold it in place.

"Let's do this!" He laughed and jabbed the stump into the manacle he'd attached to the chainsaw. He tightened the straps and held up the "modified" limb for inspection. Ichigo nodded at his impressive piece of work, though he admitted some personal bias. Ichigo yanked the starter rope and listened to the chainsaw's engine rev up. He then took the whirling chain to the barrel of his shotgun, cutting it down to a more maneuverable size. He inspected his work and, with a smile that could have frightened the undead back into whatever hole they had crawled from all on its own, slid the shotgun into the sheathe he had strapped to his back. Ichigo, for some reason, found himself thinking back to a time where father tried to sound cool in front of him and his friends. Ichigo just chuckled at the memory and said,

"Groovy."

* * *

Ichigo walked back up to the living room, chainsaw at the ready. Suddenly he heard a large crash as the decaying body of Tatsuki came up from the floor.

"What's the matter Ichi-kun? No kiss for your girlfriend?" The floating undead Tatsuki asked, before cackling evilly.

"Kiss this you bitch!" Ichigo yelled, knowing his girlfriend was long gone. He pulled his shotgun and fired, however Tatsuki dodged and threw him against the wall. Ichigo quickly pulled the ripcord of his chainsaw hand and got ready. Suddenly her body morphed, extending her neck and changing her head into a hideous snake-line creature. She bit and nipped at Ichigo, who managed to get in close and cut her head off.

"**I'LL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL! ****I'LL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL! ****I'LL SWALLOW... URK!**" The head yelled before Ichigo stomped on the remainder of neck.

"Swallow this." He deadpanned as he fired the other round into the monster's head.

* * *

Morning was moments away now and the sun was just starting to rise. As he sat down on the bed, he looked around at the toys crowding the room.

"Nobody laughing now. Nope. Nobody but me." He said quietly.

**"Not true!"** A familiar voice called. Ichigo readied his weaponry, but since nothing threatening had appeared yet he didn't know which way to look.

**"Don't think that we'll be gone just because the sun rises. You're ours, Ichigo! Ours forever!"**

Something in the basement howled, like a hurricane trapped below ground. The air in the cabin was quickly whipped up into a powerful whirlwind that threatened to blow Ichigo right off his feet. He braced against the door and tried to ride out the storm, but the winds became too strong. He couldn't even think straight in the noise and chaos of a tornado indoors, let alone do anything to fight against it. He was pulled out of the bedroom and down the hall, towards the cellar he had so recently used. He caught hold of a table as he passed by and held on for dear life. The desk in the corner of the living room was slowly inching along.

"LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE DAMMIT!" Ichigo shouted against the howl of the wind. The desk tumbled forward and crashed through the table he was clinging to. Wood splintered and, with his anchor destroyed, Ichigo flew backwards and into the cellar. His head caught the cellar door as he passed and the world went dark.

* * *

Ichigo woke up, the bright sun almost blinding him. Suddenly he heard the clanking of metal. He looked and saw he was surrounded by what looked like knights. Medieval knights.

"Tis a Deadite! Slay the fiend!" A priest said. Ichigo recognized the English. It was really a good thing he took refresher courses recently. Just then the knights took their swords and got ready to impale Ichigo. Suddenly though a loud shrieking noise was heard, causing the knights to flee. Ichigo got up and looked to see a large demonic winged creature flying toward him. Glaring he pulled his shotgun and fired a round at it, blowing its head off. It fell at Ichigo's feet as he blew the smoke off the barrel. The gunshot echoed throughout the valley as the knights looked on in shock and awe. One knight removed his helmet as he walked up to Ichigo. He took hold of Ichigo's good arm and raised it to the sky.

"HUZZAH! Hail the chosen one! He who fell from the sky to release us from the terror of the Deadites!" A knight yelled, causing Ichigo's eyes to widen.

"No." Ichigo breathed out.

"HAIL!"

"No!"

"HAIL!"

"NOOOOOOO!"

* * *

**ALRIGHT YOU PRIMITIVE SCREW HEADS! This! Is where you review! \/ Also if you want to see a sequel please let me know!**


End file.
